Ian Somerhalder And Paul Wesley Tease The End Of ‘Vampire Diaries’ As We Know It

There’s one thing that all “Vampire Diaries” fans universally love — and it’s “The Vampire Diaries,” obviously. But Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley told MTV News at San Diego Comic-Con last week that when the show returns for its sixth season on October 2, it won’t be the same “TVD” that fans have gotten used to.

Of course, the stage for this was set during last May’s finale, when The Travelers set off a spell that made supernatural activity impossible. But the lack of vampire activity isn’t the only thing that will make season six different — there’s also the fact that Damon and Bonnie (Kat Graham) are, at this point, totally dead, while everybody else is geographically separated due to the literally toxic nature of their town.

“The stories are compartmentalized geographically,” Wesley continued. “I’m not sure how long that will last. Stefan has his own sort of thing, Damon and Bonnie, and then everyone [else].”

Another major change (and this is the part where you close your ears, Stelena fans) will be the fact that Stefan, who spent five seasons pining over Nina Dobrev’s Elena, will no longer be “whipped” on his dead brother’s girlfriend when the series returns — which is something that Wesley, for one, is quite happy about.

“Listen man,” Wesley said. “There’s no two ways about it, nobody likes a mopey, whipped dude. Viewers appreciate a character that’s strong, and decisive, and masculine. I think he’s moved on, and I think that’s a sexy quality.”

Somerhalder agreed, calling it a “sexy answer,” then added that it was multiple characters — not just Stefan and Elena — who needed some juggling around for the sake of good television.

“These characters are going to start intertwining and developing different dynamics, and I think that that’s been needed,” he concluded.